Janoris Jenkins thinks Tavon Austin can be very special

Posted by Josh Alper on July 2, 2013, 10:47 AM EST

AP

When the Rams made wide receiver Tavon Austin the eighth overall pick of the 2013 draft, Austin said he had a lot of “cousins” coming to him with their hands out in hopes of getting some of the money Austin will earn when he signs his deal with St. Louis.

It’s the kind of situation that can lead to bad things down the road, as Cowboys tackle Tyron Smith has experienced, and the kind of off-field distraction that can slow down a young player’s transition to the NFL. Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins doesn’t want to see that happen to Austin, both because he has experience in how the wrong decisions can impact your football career and because he thinks Austin has the kind of talent that can help the Rams offense catch fire next season.

“He’s pretty fast, he’s a dynamic receiver. Great speed, great hands, great quickness,” Jenkins said during an interview with Andrew Siciliano of the NFL Network. “I think he can be very special. He’s just got to work, stay focused and, like I said, just put himself around positive people. But as far as talent-wise he has it all.”

Austin is expected to be a very busy man in the Rams offense, using his speed and athleticism to make plays all over the field for quarterback Sam Bradford. It’s something the Rams have lacked in Bradford’s first three seasons, so we’re guessing Jenkins isn’t the only member of the organization who wants to see Austin free of off-field issues that would slow him down on the field.

The Rams might be very good this year. How many people know they led the entire League in sacks? Even though they played SF (twice), Seattle (twice), Green Bay, New England, Minnesota, Washington, et. al.

Now with their new weapons on offense and a much more solid offensive line, I predict good things happening. Very good things.

I have said all along the best things the rams did was draft Stedman bailey I believe Austin and bailey will feed off each other and if bailey sees limited action this year he shouldn’t get too disappointed as he has a long career ahead of him too it does appear of course tavon will be a big factor from day one now if this young corps of receivers can gel this team could be scary good GO RAMS

The size argument is tired. Steve Smith and Wes Welker are both listed at 5’9″. Darren Sproles’ size hasn’t limited him much on the field. Austin missed only one practice in his entire college career I believe. Just one, far from the injury prone mighty mite everyone wants to paint him as.

Agreed bkh405. Chris Johnson is tiny & he plays RB. Yet he has been remarkably healthy during his career. Plenty of small players do just fine injury wise & plenty of big players have problems with injuries.

Steve Smith and Wes Welker are significantly bigger than Tavon, and still, while they remain relatively healthy, both have suffered one serious leg injury in there career and generally are dinged up for a game or two per year. A guy more comparable is desean jackson. Who, as we know, has not been the epitome of healthy during his career, and even he is bigger than tavon. I just don’t get why the Rams traded UP for Tavon Austin when they could have traded BACK for Cordarelle Patterson who is nearly as fast and is 6’3, 220 lbs. Sure he’s more raw, but he’s less likely to get dinged up every year and just as versatile with the potential to play outside later in his career. Tavon is the smallest WR in the league. So yes, size is a question mark.

Steve Smith and Wes Welker are significantly bigger than Tavon, and still, while they remain relatively healthy, both have suffered one serious leg injury in there career and generally are dinged up for a game or two per year. A guy more comparable is desean jackson. Who, as we know, has not been the epitome of healthy during his career, and even he is bigger than tavon. I just don’t get why the Rams traded UP for Tavon Austin when they could have traded BACK for Cordarelle Patterson who is nearly as fast and is 6’3, 220 lbs. Sure he’s more raw, but he’s less likely to get dinged up every year and just as versatile with the potential to play outside later in his career. Tavon is the smallest WR in the league. So yes, size is a question mark.

Austin is 11 lbs less than Smith and Welker so that is not “Significantly bigger”

Welker-140 games played in 144 possible
Deshaun Jackson-71 out of 80
Steve Smith-167 out of 192 (15 of those on the 2004 knee injury)

11 lbs is 6.3% body mass. That is significantly bigger. Or a better word would be NOTABLY bigger. Think of 11lbs in a boxing fight. Weight classes are from 3-8 lbs with the exception of heavyweight.

Secondly, we shouldn’t be comparing him to wes because him and Tavon are not the same player (welker is a route running pure slot WR, Tavon is not known for running routes, he’s a “get him the ball in space and watch his magic” player). Nor is he with Steve Smith (an outside WR). Everyone wants to say how the Rams want him to be the next Percy with reverses, return duties, and running plays in there as well, well Percy is 5’11” 188 (about the size of Chris Johnson) and he hasn’t stayed healthy handling that punishment (and Percy won’t stay healthy again this year in the best defense division in football). I mean, you’re seriously going to hand the ball off to a 5’8 174 lb dude with Washington, Bowmann, and Willis in that division? Or give him return duties? It’s not an unfair question to ask if he can stay healthy. I hope he can for his sake but no one has been this small before and been asked to do so much. Like someone said, though, time will tell. They didn’t draft him to baby him.